Above: NGT/Photo by Anil Shakya

A National Green Tribunal (NGT) bench on Thursday (March 1) dealing with the sudden blindness in the blue sheep or Bharal which are found in Gangotri and other regions of Uttarakhand asked the National Biodiversity Board and Uttarakhand State Biodiversity Board to submit a joint report on the sudden blindness in the blue sheep failing which they will be slapped with a compensation of Rs one lakh each.

During the hearing, the bench headed by Justice Jawad Rahim asked the counsel appearing for the State of Uttarakhand as what actions they had taken pursuant of the previous order by this Tribunal. To which the counsel didn’t able to give satisfactory answers.

The plea says that due to the sudden blindness, the blue sheeps are falling prey to the leopards leading to ecological imbalance.

The bench posted the matter for next hearing to March 14, 2018.

—India Legal Bureau